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Thursday, August 17, 2017

Why Not to Do Your Own Orthodontics

One of the most dangerous trends in oral health over the past few years has been the rise of do-it-yourself orthodontics. While online sources are full of tips on how to save time and money with home remedies for malocclusions, most of this advice will actually cause extreme damage to the patient’s teeth and require much greater expense to fix.


Guiding the movement of teeth through the jawbone is a delicate art. It takes time for the bone to dissolve and rebuild itself, which is why dentists control the rate at which they dispense aligners to Invisalign patients. People who 3D-print their own aligners so they can move their teeth at what they think is a better pace risk permanently compromising the strength of their bone structure, resulting in teeth that are loose, migrate back to their original position, or fall out entirely.


People unsatisfied with their bites should also avoid using household objects as orthodontic wires. Teeth contain living tissue which can be killed if the teeth are bound tightly with a rubber band or strand of floss, for example. Without orthodontic brackets, such materials can also slide into the wearer’s gum pockets, where they will remain until they can be removed by a professional dentist. Orthodontics are complex medical treatments with lifelong benefits for the patient when done properly, but disastrous results when done without oversight.


To learn more about Ross Orthodontics, visit SmilesbyRoss.com. Offices are located in Forest Lake, Minnesota and Hudson, Wisconsin.

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